Monday, July 31, 2017

CMBA Blog Profile: The Vintage Cameo

The Vintage Cameo is a kind of "classic" example of a classic movie blog. With a clean look and a focus on the major stars, Emily also takes the time to seek out some lesser-known gems and comments on TCM's offerings and festivals as well as the vivid locations of "Hollywood Haunts." Located in Los Angeles and working in film studies at the University, she brings strong contextual detail to her discussions of the movies she reviews. More than reviews of the movies, her discussions can also be reviews of particular screenings, the conditions under which modern Los Angelinos are seeing the movies their forebears knew and worked on in original release. Reading her blog is almost like going to the movies with an old friend, one whose knowledge and passion for the movies makes the experience all the better.

CMBA: What sparked
your interest in classic film?

The Vintage Cameo: My childhood movie
collection was an eclectic mix of “whatever my mom had taped off HBO during the
free preview weekend,” so I don’t think I initially felt much of a distinction
between “classic” and “modern” films—but first developed a love for movies as a
whole. Some of my early classic favorites were Singin’ in the Rain, West
Side Story, and the Wizard of Oz
(in addition to more questionably-appropriate kid fare, like Beetlejuice). As I got older, I realized
that there was a whole world of classic film out there, but also that it seemed
like many of my peers weren’t at all interested in exploring it further. But
luckily I was OK with being a weirdo! It also helped that shows I liked, like The Simpsons, utilized classic film references
all the time, which encouraged me to seek out the original sources. Although
the show probably spoiled me for a ton of classic movie scenes (Citizen Kane, The Shining, Planet of the
Apes), the constant riffs also seemed to encourage knowledge in classic
film as a necessary component of pop culture.

CMBA: What makes a
film a "classic" in your opinion?

The Vintage Cameo: As a marker of
quality, I would say any film that has made a significant cultural impact—whether
it’s changing what people thought about something, evoking some sort of
discussion, or even just remaining in the public cultural consciousness for
decades after its debut.

As
a synonym for “old,” I try to keep the majority of my blog content focused on
films within a rolling marker of about 40 or 50 years or so.

CMBA: What classic
film(s) do you recommend to people who say they hate old movies?

The Vintage Cameo: I’m a TA for my
university’s intro film course, so this is actually something that comes up quite
often for me! To be fair, most students wouldn’t say they hated old movies, but for many of them, their reference points are
restricted to about the last 10 to 15 years. A few of the new-to-them films I’ve
assigned that students later told me they liked/loved: King Kong (1933), Gold
Diggers of 1933 (1933), The Thin Man
(1934), Gojira (1954), Ocean’s 11 (1960), Psycho (1960), The Italian
Job (1969), and The Last Picture Show
(1975). I find that approaching older films through genre often makes an easier
entry point for resistant people—if somebody loves modern action or horror or
comedy, there’s usually a corollary from the past that they would also enjoy.
I’ve also been pleased to find that the most magnetic stars of the past still seem
to be able to draw in modern viewers, so anything with one of the greats usually
works pretty well too.

CMBA: Why should
people care about classic film?

The Vintage Cameo: I think it’s necessary
for anybody interested in film, as the whole history of film is basically a
bundle of continuous timelines. While you don’t need to understand the full historical
and cultural context for every film you see in order to enjoy it, I think the
ability to think about films in a deeper way almost always contributes to a
better and more rewarding experience. There’s also SO many amazing and varied
films out there, that people who avoid “old” films are really missing out!

CMBA: What is the
most rewarding thing about blogging?

The
people, for sure! Finding such an active community of like-minded folks has
been really gratifying if even a little surprising! Watching older films can be
a bit isolating since, unlike the watercooler-friendly films that come out in
theaters every week, we’re usually all watching them at drastically different
times. When I watch a musical from 1938, chances are fairly slim that my
coworker has seen it (recently enough) to listen to me gushing about it, but
the classic film community always seems to step up. Or if nothing else, I can
go back and read somebody else’s review from two years ago about the same film,
which can help prompt discussion.

The Vintage Cameo: On a related but more
trivial note, my memory for movies is super terrible, so writing my entries
helps me remember what I’ve seen and what I thought about it!

CMBA: What challenges
do you face with your blog, and how do you overcome them?

The Vintage Cameo: I am just now
getting back on schedule after spending the past two years getting my Master’s,
so first: scheduling! I am a fairly slow writer—even trivial things like
festival recaps take me at least a few hours to complete, so a real review is
usually a pretty significant undertaking. I’ve been trying to balance this a
bit by being more active on social media, especially Twitter, where I can train
myself to be a little looser and not agonize over every word choice. I’m also
working on editing down some of my school assignments to post on the blog,
since I’ve already done the work on them, as well as coming up with some new
short-form ideas for regular posts.

CMBA: What advice
would you give to a new blogger?

The Vintage Cameo: One thing that helped when I was starting out was having a specific project to
complete. For me, it was tracking down all the full films from the clips
featured in That’s Entertainment, and
writing reviews on those. That gave me a bit of structure to start from, as
well as a built-in list of topics to cover for when I wasn’t feeling inspired. It
also let me feel like I was doing something a little bit unique. Since many of
these older films have been covered by tons of writers/blogs at this point, it
initially felt impossible to say something new about them—but having the
structure of the project meant that I could at least approach it from my own perspective.

What is one blog post
that you would like to share on your profile – and why?

I’ll
just say this recent post on The Star, which is fairly representative of my
combination of analysis and personal history!

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